On this day: Neil Armstrong walks on the moon

Buzz Aldrin walking on the surface of the moon during the Apollo 11, a picture taken by Neil Armstrong. Picture: AFP/Getty Images

National day of Belgium.

365: An earthquake with its epicentre at Crete, was followed by a tsunami around the eastern Mediterranean that is believed to have destroyed Alexandria.

1542: Pope Paul III established the Inquisition in Rome. Six cardinals had powers to interrogate, jail and condemn heretics, and a reign of terror and intimidation spread across Catholic Europe.

1545: French troops invaded the Isle of Wight.

1884: Lord’s cricket ground staged its first Test match, England defeating Australia by an innings.

1897: The Tate Gallery in London was officially opened – built on site of the Millbank Prison.

1904: The 4,607-mile Trans-Siberian Railway was completed after 13 years of construction.

1951: The Dalai Lama returned to Tibet.

1960: Francis Chichester docked in New York in Gypsy Moth II, setting a new record of 40 days for a solo Atlantic crossing.

1960: Mrs Sirimavo Bandaranaike became premier of Ceylon after elections – first woman premier in Commonwealth.

1969: Neil Armstrong became the first man to step on to the moon.

1970: The Aswan Dam on the river Nile in Egypt opened.

1972: The Provisional IRA exploded 22 bombs in space of 75 minutes in Belfast. Six civilians, two British soldiers and one UDA volunteer were killed; 130 were injured.

1973: France exploded nuclear device over South Pacific island in spite of worldwide protests.

1976: Christopher Ewart Biggs, the British ambassador to the Republic of Ireland, was assassinated by the IRA.

1984: The man who popularised jogging, James J Fixx, had a heart attack and died while out running in Vermont. He was 52.

1985: Sandy Lyle scored 282 at Royal St George to win the Open Championship.

1989: Mike Tyson knocked out Carl Williams after only 93 seconds to retain his world heavyweight crown.

1989: Comedian Ken Dodd walked free after 23-day trial in which he was cleared of defrauding the Inland Revenue.

1994: Tony Blair became the youngest man to be elected leader of the Labour Party. He promised “new politics to take us into a new millennium”.

1995: American golfer Arnold Palmer paid an emotional farewell to St Andrews, 35 years after playing his first Open at the Old Course.

2005: Four terrorist bombings, occurring exactly two weeks after the similar 7 July bombings, targeted London’s public transport system. All four bombs failed to detonate and all four suspected suicide bombers were captured and later convicted and imprisoned for long terms.

2007: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, the final book in the series by JK Rowling, was published. Within 24 hours, 11 million copies were sold worldwide.

2008: Bosnian-Serb war criminal Radovan Karadzic was arrested in Serbia and indicted by a United Nations tribunal.

2010: In parts of Scotland, a month’s worth of rain fell in just ten hours, causing flooding in 100 homes and businesses in Perth.

2011: Nasa’s space shuttle programme ended with the landing of space shuttle Atlantis.

BIRTHDAYS

Paloma Faith, singer-songwriter, 34; Ross Kemp, actor, 51; Paul Casey, golfer, 38; Yusuf Islam (Cat Stevens), singer, 67; Richard Johnson, jockey, 38; John Lowe, former world darts champion, 70; Dr Sir Jonathan Miller CBE, film, theatre and opera director, 81; Julian Pettifer OBE, writer and broadcaster, 80; Rebecca Ferguson, singer, 29; Kyoko Iwasaki, Olympic gold medal-winning swimmer, 37; Gary Teale, Scottish footballer, 37; Josh Hartnett, actor and producer, 37; Brian Talbot, former footballer, 62; Michael Connelly, author, 59; Alex Reid, kickboxer, actor, winner of Celebrity Big Brother 7, 40; ; Gene Littler, golfer, 85; Charlotte Gainsbourg, actress, 44.

ANNIVERSARIES

Births: 1816 Paul von Reuter, founder of the news agency; 1899 Ernest Hemingway, novelist; 1918 Maurice Lindsay, Glasgow-born broadcaster, writer and poet; 1922 Mollie Sugden, comedy actress; 1926 Bill Pertwee MBE, actor; 1926 Norman Jewison, film director; 1928 Lt-Gen Sir Steuart Pringle, Commandant General KCB, Royal Marines 1981-84; 1951 Robin Williams, actor and comedian.

Deaths: 1683 William Russell, Baron Russell, plotter against king Charles II (beheaded); 1796 Robert Burns, poet; 1957 Bernard Spooner, inventor of the bulletproof vest; 1964 John White, Scottish international footballer; 1967 Basil Rathbone, actor; 1993 John Crichton-Stuart, 6th Marquess of Bute; 2008 Eric “Digger” Dowling (survivor of “Great Escape” attempt from Stalag Luft III).